Chapter 395: Changes in "Tangshan Earthquake"
Because of the conflict between Feng Kuzi and Huayi, Liu Zhou wanted to intercept the two most important works of Feng Kuzi, "Assembly" and "Aftershock".

In addition, Liu Zhou also wrote in advance the only film that Feng Kuzi could produce in his later years, "Youth".

If Feng Kuzi didn't have many works with strong personal style, Liu Zhou would have been able to purge him completely.

Without these three movies, Feng Kuzi would not be as arrogant as in the original time and space.

Now that Feng Kuzi no longer has the movie "Assembly" that could greatly enhance his status in the industry, he has become much more restrained and is no longer as outspoken as he was in his previous life.

However, as Liu Zhou's status grew higher, he became less and less concerned about past grudges.

Liu Zhou didn't take the matter of fleecing Feng Pants seriously.

However, there is nothing that can be done about the two movies like "Assembly" and "Youth", as Liu Zhou had already taken up the spots long ago.

As for the movie "Aftershock", Liu Zhou really forgot about it.

But Liu Zhou forgot, but Zhang Zhao did not. He clearly remembered what Liu Zhou had mentioned to him.

So in early 2008, Zhang Zhao went to communicate with Tangshan.

However, the other party did not seem very active at the beginning, but as the same disaster happened in Sichuan Province, Tangshan's attitude changed drastically.

Afterwards, the relevant cooperation on the jointly invested and filmed film "Aftershock" officially entered substantive negotiations.

Tangshan's change of attitude was certainly a good thing, but their change was too drastic, which made Zhang Zhao a little uncomfortable.

Not only do they demand a 30% investment share in the film "Aftershock", but they also hope that the film will promote mainstream values, carry forward the main theme, express human love, and publicize the great achievements made in the years since the Tangshan earthquake and the humanistic spirit of Tangshan.

As soon as he heard the other party's request, Zhang Zhao knew that the other party must have received a task assigned by his superiors and wanted to promote the movie "Aftershock".

Zhang Zhao could understand the publicity requirements, but he could not accept the fact that they wanted to occupy 50% of the investment share.

Tangshan holds a 50% share, so the controlling rights are no longer in the hands of Golden Harvest, and they also have a lot of say in how the film is shot.

It would be easier to deal with if they were experts, but they are outsiders and have so much power. Given their personalities, they will definitely interfere during the filming.

There will definitely be a lot of arguments and disagreements during the filming. Based on his years of experience, the possibility of such a crew making a bad movie is more than 80%, and he doesn't want to ruin Golden Harvest's reputation.

Not to mention that he would not agree, even if he agreed, Zhang Zhao was sure that Liu Zhou would not agree. He knew clearly how much Liu Zhou valued the Jiahe brand.

So Zhang Zhao flatly rejected the other party's request to take half of the share.

For some time afterwards, the two sides have been negotiating on investment shares and other cooperation matters.

But Tangshan seems to attach great importance to the investment share. Everything else can be negotiated, but they will not give in on the share.

When Zhang Zhao saw the other party's behavior, he felt that they would interfere with the filming of the movie.

If a good movie is turned into a promotional advertisement for Tangshan, it would be better not to shoot it or do this project.

When Tangshan saw that Jiahe refused to give in and even planned to give up, they finally panicked.

When they saw Jiahe approaching them to seek cooperation, they felt that they were in the active position.

But if the other party gives up, they will be punished.

This is a publicity task assigned by the higher-ups. Golden Harvest is the most well-known company in the film and television industry with a guaranteed reputation. The other party took the initiative to come to us, so they can be said to be the best partner.

They also don't want to lose this partner.

Therefore, Zhang Zhao's communication with Tangshan made substantial progress.

Having said that, Zhang Zhao still felt tired after the subsequent negotiations.

If it weren't for the fact that they were indispensable for the project "Aftershock", Zhang Zhao really didn't bother to argue with them and just let Golden Harvest do it alone.

"The Tangshan Earthquake" is a major historical subject, and it happened in a special period, so it is easy to trigger landmines.

This incident triggered the inspiration of director Chen Guoxing. He wanted to use this incident to show the weakness of people before a catastrophe, and also to show the love that people exude at the critical moment of life and death.

After the film was completed, Chen Guoxing received a notice that he had to temporarily move the power outage incident to another location and reshoot all the scenes with relevant signs.

Movie promotional articles and advertisements carefully noted that a power outage had occurred in a coastal city.

If "Aftershock" is filmed and Tangshan is not satisfied with it, and reports it to the higher authorities, then things will be troublesome, as it may cause all of Golden Harvest's investment in this film to go down the drain.

If you want to make "Aftershock" well, the investment will not be low, at least one or two hundred million, which is not a small amount for Golden Harvest.

It would be too risky for Jiahe to do it alone, and it is totally uncontrollable.

Therefore, if you want to carry out this project, you can't avoid the other party. With the participation of the other party, the preparations before shooting will be much easier and simpler.

It was not until March 2009 that Golden Harvest and Tangshan signed a preliminary investment agreement on "Aftershock".

The total investment for "Aftershock" is yet to be determined, but no matter how much it is, Tangshan will account for 40% of the share.

They will also be responsible for the construction of the movie scenes, while Golden Harvest will be responsible for the production of the film.

At the same time, Golden Harvest was fully responsible for the filming of the film, which was also what Zhang Zhao insisted on.

Later, seeing Zhang Zhao's firm attitude, the Tangshan side had to agree, but they required that the film script must be approved by them, and of course, also by Golden Harvest.

After most of the conditions were agreed upon, the two parties formally signed a preliminary cooperation agreement.

After that, Zhang Zhao asked someone to write the script. The script is currently the prerequisite for cooperation between the two parties. If the script cannot be approved by both parties, there will be another dispute.

Zhang Zhao also made the worst-case scenario plan, which was to just give up on this project.

Therefore, apart from the script, Zhang Zhao will not make any other investment in this project to avoid wasting money.

But everything was fine originally, until Tangshan suddenly asked Liu Zhou to direct the movie "Aftershock", and their attitude was quite firm.

Zhang Zhao had no choice but to come to Liu Zhou to report the matter.

"Why do they suddenly want me to direct?" Liu Zhou asked.

"Of course it's because you're famous, so the promotion of the movie will be better, and they trust you too."

“I’m not the only famous director, right?”

To be honest, Liu Zhou really never considered directing Aftershock. Even the project of Aftershock was not something Liu Zhou paid much attention to. Zhang Zhao was in charge of the film, and he never asked about it.

Liu Zhou didn't expect that the idea that came to his mind on a whim would eventually fall on him.

"Boss Liu, you are the top star of Jiahe. Who else can they look for if not you?"

"But I don't have the time and energy to shoot Aftershock right now. My company is going to go public soon, and then I will start shooting Interstellar.

Tangshan also demanded that the film must be released in 2011, which was too late.”

"Mr. Liu, you'll make it in time." Hearing that Liu Zhou seemed to be willing to give in, Zhang Zhao's voice became two degrees higher, "Aftershock also requires a lot of special effects, and the early stage of setting up the scenery also requires a lot of time.

You can prepare for "Aftershock" just like you prepared for "Interstellar". When you finish filming "Interstellar", the preparation work for "Aftershock" should be almost completed.

By then, we can start filming Aftershock, and with the time for post-production, two years will definitely be enough for the film to be released in 2011."

"You have arranged my time very clearly." Liu Zhou said with a smile.

"It's a good idea to do more for those who are capable, and the movie 'Aftershock' is indeed worth making."

Liu Zhou pondered for a while and asked:

"How far has this project progressed?"

"We are still asking someone to write the script, but we have revised it twice, and the other party is still not satisfied."

"Please show me the script first."

"Okay Mr. Liu, I'll get it for you."

Zhang Zhao replied with a smile, then turned and walked out.

After a while, Zhang Zhao handed a manuscript to Liu Zhou.

"Let me take a look first and get back to you later."

Seeing Zhang Zhao closing the door and leaving, Liu Zhou sighed slightly, picked up the script and read it carefully.

In fact, when Liu Zhou asked Zhang Zhao for the script, he had already made a decision in his mind, which was to take on the project of "Aftershock".

What Zhang Zhao said was right. The preparations for "Interstellar" are almost completed, and it is possible to handle two projects at the same time.

Historically, Zhang Yimou was busy preparing for the Olympic Games and also finished filming "Curse of the Golden Flower". Feng Kuzi was also preparing to film two movies, "If You Are the One 2" and "Aftershock".

Liu Zhou didn't want to make himself so tired, and he planned to go to Hollywood to shoot a movie after filming "Interstellar" to deepen his cooperative relationship with Warner.

However, Liu Zhou suddenly felt that the movie "Aftershock" could be well managed and not only released in China but also promoted overseas.

In addition to its warning and propaganda significance, this movie can also be a very good movie subject in terms of its own attributes.

There has never been a movie of this type in China, but in Hollywood, this is a very popular movie genre, and many excellent movies have been produced.

Such as the well-known domestic films "Collision Impact", "The Day After Tomorrow", and "2012" which was released in November this year.

However, if Aftershock is to be promoted overseas, the script certainly cannot be like the version written by Feng Kuzi.

Feng Kuzi's version of "Aftershock" was a huge hit at the domestic box office, raking in more than 700 million yuan, which also made him very arrogant.

At that time, he was full of confidence and hoped that "Aftershock" would be able to gain popularity overseas.

Overseas box office and awards are Feng Kuzi's biggest concern. In China, after Aftershock, he thinks he is no worse than Zhang Yimou and Chen Shishi.

But overseas, Feng Kuzi is not well-known at all, and people don’t even know who he is.

He has no choice but to win awards, but even in terms of box office, which he is most proud of, Feng Kuzi is not as good as Zhang Yimou and Chen Shishi.

Not to mention Zhang Yimou, even though Chen Shishi was brought down from the altar after "The Promise", this movie still earned more than 10 million US dollars overseas.

There is also "Mei Lanfang". Because Mr. Mei Lanfang is very well-known in the United States, this movie also earned several million dollars at the box office in North America.

However, almost no one watches Feng Kuzi's movies overseas, and his highly anticipated movie "The Banquet" also flopped at the box office overseas.

So he really wanted to regain some face through "Aftershock".

But in the end, things did not go as planned. Although Huayi and Emperor Entertainment Group put in a lot of effort, "Aftershock" only earned tens of thousands of dollars at the box office in North America.

Therefore, in order to promote Aftershock to overseas box office, the script must be revised.

Liu Zhou carefully read the script written by Zhang Zhao and felt that it was quite different from the version directed by Feng Kuzi, as both films spanned a period of thirty years.

And from what Zhang Zhao just said, Tangshan invested in the filming of "Aftershock" mainly for publicity, to publicize the great achievements made in the 30 years since the earthquake and the humanistic spirit of Tangshan.

So if Liu Zhou really wants to be the director, he has to talk to the people in Tangshan in person.

Before leaving get off work in the afternoon, Liu Zhou called Zhang Zhao over and said:

"This script is not good. I can write a version of Aftershock myself, and I can also be the director of this film, but my ideas may conflict with their requirements.

So arrange a time for me to talk to them in person.”

Zhang Zhao was delighted when he first heard Liu Zhou's agreement, but after hearing the second half of his sentence, he couldn't help but ask hesitantly:
"Mr. Liu, is this about the investment share?"

"No, it's about their request for publicity."

"Mr. Liu, this propaganda requirement is their most core demand. It may be difficult for them to give in."

It's not that it's difficult to make concessions, it's almost impossible to make concessions. After talking with them for so long, Zhang Zhao knew clearly what they were thinking.

"Nothing is absolute. Please arrange a time so that I can talk to them in person. Maybe I can make them change their minds?" Liu Zhou said with a smile.

"Is this weekend okay? We can review the script with them, and they will be coming to Beijing."

Liu Zhou thought that he would have nothing to do over the weekend, so he nodded and agreed.

There are still five days until the weekend, which should be enough time to finish the preliminary script of "Aftershock".

(End of this chapter)